That was a rhetorical question, you have no choice – We are Married!
Each year February 14th rolls around people exchange cards, candy or flowers with their special ‘valentine’.
Valentine’s Day is named after a Christian martyr which dates back to the 5th century. It has origins with both Greek and Roman mythology.
My favorite myth states that St. Valentine defied his emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.
How Sweet…….??
When Peter and I started dating 7 years ago, we never really stressed over Valentine’s Day. We never went ‘all-out’ for Valentine’s Day; it was either a quiet night at home, or a simple dinner out. No lavish gifts to exchange; just a cute, meaningful card from each other.
He understood, I appreciate flowers more on a random Tuesday vs. February 14th.
Our first Valentine’s Day together, we weren’t physically together so we ‘snail-mailed’ each other a card. The card I received from him, he wrote ‘LIA’ on it.
Who is ‘Lia’?; she is my niece – so I gave him a pass for that. But tease him about it every now and then. . .another year he sent me a beautiful card. The next year what did I get in the mail, the same valentine’s day card from the year before.
He claims; “I liked it so much I bought it again!”
So for us, Valentine’s Day is just a day for us to enjoy each other, disconnect from our lives and be in the moment with each other.
So is Valentine’s Day different when you are married?? For Peter and I the answer is – NO! We celebrated just like we normally do – a nice, quiet dinner at our favorite restaurant. I didn’t feel like cooking this year! One thing that I wanted to do was to try replicate was our wedding cake. It was the only thing at our wedding that we didn’t fully enjoy. Yes, we did the ‘cutting the cake’ picture, shoved it in each other’s faces but we didn’t have an entire piece. And we, of course have a layer in our freezer but it is bad luck to eat it before our One Year Wedding Anniversary.
Now; obviously I didn’t make a 4 layer cake, enough for 150 people. Just a replication of one layer, enough for him and I to enjoy with one another.
The flavor of our Wedding Cake was Pink Champagne, with Buttercream Frosting and Strawberry Puree filling.
So YUM!
Obviously I am NOT a cake decorator, but I just love to bake! Remember is just a hobby for me.
MY Version:
Strawberry Champagne Cake
So how did I adapt it??. . . .
. . . .See the Recipe Below
Ingredients:
For the Cake –
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature (makes for easier mixing)
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups of sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups of almond milk
For the Frosting –
- 1 cup of pureed fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup of your favorite Champagne
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoon of heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Directions:
For the Cake –
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8-inch-square cake pans.
- Combine and mix all ingredients with KitchenAid mixer until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake 30 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before they are removed from pans (overnight/ or 4 hours).
For the Frosting –
- Combine and mix all ingredients with KitchenAid mixer until smooth.
- If Buttercream is to thin, you can add more sugar if needed.
Once cake is cool and frosting is mixed, the cake is ready to assemble! I place my spatula that I use to frost the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes before I am ready to go. This helps smear the frosting on your cake much easier.
For this cake I added some Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, because it’s Valentine’s Day and it is a staple for V-day right??……
Enjoy making this Strawberry Champagne Cake and enjoy it along side of your loved ones.
See you in the Kitchen!!
Newlywed In the Kitchen 